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"How long will the session be?" Annani asked.
"I was not told," Aru said. "But I do not think it would be more than an hour."
"The two of you will have to come up with separate excuses, then. I can call Kian to come to my cabin for any reason." She smiled at Kian. "You are my son, and I can seek your company at any time of the day or night because of some concern that I suddenly have, and the truth is that you do not really need to be there." She turned to Aru. "You, however, will have to come up with a different excuse. Could it be something about communicating with your commander on the patrol ship?"
He sighed. "It could work once, but not every night, which is what the queen intends to do from now on."
"I see." Annani reached for the cup of tea Oridu had poured for her. "Then I will have no choice but to play the spoiled diva. I will demand your presence at one o'clock in the morning every day to tell me about the history of Anumati because that is the time I feel the strongest connection to the home of my ancestors." She looked at Kian. "And you, my poor son, will have to accompany Aru during his visits with your demanding and eccentric mother."
"It's not great, but it's the best we have."
"On another subject," Aru said. "I had another bizarre request today. Negal asked me if we could delay the trip to Tibet so he would have more time to pursue Margo and eventually induce her transition."
Kian shrugged. "I have no objections to that, but those were your marching orders from your commander. What are you going to tell him?"
Aru chuckled. "I need another creative story. Any ideas?"
Annani lifted her arms. "Do not look at me. I've supplied my share of ideas for today. Now it is your turn."
58
SHARON
"Oh, Eva." Sharon put her hand over her heart as she looked at what Eva had done to her cabin. "Where did you get all these decorations?"
Her boss and mentor put an arm around her shoulders. "I brought them with me, and Tessa helped me put them up."
White and blue swaths of fabric had been elegantly draped from the ceiling and were interspersed with strings of twinkling light that cast a soft glow throughout the cabin's living room, creating an ambiance of starlight reflected on the water.
Eva and Tessa had also placed silver-framed photos of Sharon and Robert on the coffee table and the bar, capturing happy moments as well as just snapshots of everyday life. Sharon hadn't even known that Eva had taken the photos, which was a sad testament to her detective skills.
Then again, she hadn't been in detective mode while relaxing at home, or in Eva's office, or around the village.
"When did you take all these photos?" she asked her boss.
"It wasn't me. It was Nick."
Sharon shook her head. "The sneaky bastard. I'll have words with him when I see him."
Nick was with Robert, celebrating the last moments of her mate's bachelor life, even though he hadn't been a bachelor since the day they had met. He'd been hers and only hers ever since.
Above the bar, a fabric banner bore the words "Sharon's Final Voyage" in elegant, flowing script, a playful nod to the nautical setting and the new journey Sharon was about to undertake, which, again, would not really be new.
She and Robert had been together for over four years, so they were already like an old married couple, and not much would change after their wedding, but it was a cute touch, nonetheless.
"Whose idea was the banner?"
"Mine." Carol sauntered over with a margarita in hand. "You like?"
"I should have known that was you." Sharon hugged Robert's former girlfriend. "I'm so glad that you came."
Carol leaned away with an arched brow. "To your bachelorette party or the cruise?"
"Both. If not for you, I would have never met Robert." Sharon smiled. "I've never thanked you properly for that."
Carol seemed taken aback. "Thank me for what exactly?"
Too late, Sharon realized that thanking Carol for bringing Robert into her life was like thanking her for getting caught by Robert's sadistic boss and being tortured for days on end.
